In some U.S. schools, the emergence of Mandarin-Chinese classes partially funded by the Chinese government has sparked controversy, including charges of propaganda and, most recently, a mass school board recall effort in the San Gabriel Valley.

But at Manhattan Beach Middle School, far from creating a stir, the same program this week inspired a ceremony celebrating the harmony between the two cultures, complete with local school leaders donning Chinese garb and accepting gifts from an emissary.

Tuesday night’s event in the multipurpose room was a formal recognition of the school’s new class, the recipient of an assistant instructor and teaching materials from the Confucius Institute of San Diego State University.

Known as a “Confucius Classroom,” the course – named after the Chinese thinker who died in 479 B.C. – enrolls about 60 students, far exceeding the expectations of Manhattan Beach officials.

“We were hoping we’d have enough for one class,” said Carolyn Seaton, spokeswoman for the Manhattan Beach Unified School District.

Although the Manhattan Beach event comes at time of skyrocketing interest in offering Mandarin-Chinese in public schools, the involvement of the Confucius Institute is rare.

Stationed at universities around the United States and other Western countries, Confucius Institutes devote resources to promoting Chinese language and culture on college campuses and in K-12 schools. They are nonprofit organizations but funded largely by the Chinese government’s Chinese Language Council International, also known as Hanban.

This has provoked controversy elsewhere, with some expressing fears that children would be subjected to communist propaganda and professors at universities worrying about the implications for their academic freedom.

Statewide, there are no more than five Confucius Classrooms in existence, said Li-Rong Lilly Cheng, managing director of San Diego’s institute. Most recently, the establishment of one at Cedarlane Middle School in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District triggered an uproar that attracted national media attention and culminated with an effort to recall four of the five board members. The recall campaign petered out in June.

Mindful of this political spectacle, officials in Manhattan Beach were careful to form a committee to scan the materials for any red flags. None was found, Seaton said.

“They were all beautifully done and consistent with the kind of subject matter that is taught in Spanish or French,” she said. “There was nothing that focused on anything of a controversial nature.”

Manhattan Beach officials also took pains to invite every parent in the district to review the materials and offer feedback. In all, about 20 parents obliged.

But demographics probably play a significant role. In Hacienda Heights, a burgeoning Asian population – now at around 37 percent – has given rise to racial tensions between longtime locals and immigrants. (Three of the four board members in the recall effort have Asian surnames.)

In Manhattan Beach, no such tension exists. Asians make up just 9 percent of the population, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, and occupy no seats on the elected school board.

Tuesday’s event at Manhattan Beach Middle School was a festive affair. Students sang songs in Mandarin. Principal John Jackson and other school officials wore traditional Chinese satin jackets. The stage of the multipurpose room was flanked by an American flag on one side and a Chinese flag on the other. Cheng, managing director of San Diego’s Confucius Institute, presented Superintendent Michael Matthews with a 6-foot-tall scroll depicting a panda bear and other Chinese emblems.

“I was reading a Confucius quote about how it’s good to blend the old with the new,” Matthews said in a brief speech. “That’s what we’re doing today, we’re bringing a very old culture – the middle kingdom – into Manhattan Beach.”

In recent years, the prevalence of Mandarin-Chinese courses in California’s K-12 schools has exploded, largely in tandem with that country’s booming economy and expanding influence. In five years, statewide enrollment has more than doubled, to 18,000. In 2010-11, for the first time in California history, the popularity of Mandarin-Chinese surpassed that of German.

The vast majority of schools offering Mandarin classes do so without assistance from a Confucius Institute. Many programs – such as one in the Wiseburn elementary district – are funded primarily by the American government, namely the Department of Defense. Manhattan Beach, the only K-12 district in the South Bay to launch a Confucius Classroom, is unique among middle schools in that most of its students must take a foreign language. The current plan is to eventually expand the Mandarin program to Mira Costa High School, Seaton said.

The arrangement came about after Manhattan Beach made an overture, with a grant proposal written by Seaton. The pitch contained no dollar figure, but Seaton estimates that the institute has provided $10,000 in instructional materials alone. What’s more, the institute picks up the salary of a teaching assistant from Beijing, although the district pays for the full-time instructor.

“The tonal differences in words are so minute to our western ears, so having another adult in there to help the kids master them is fantastic,” Seaton said.

But the cultural education is a two-way street.

The assistant teacher from Beijing stays with the local families of her Manhattan Beach students. A college student at Beijing Language and Culture University, 23-year-old Sabrina Geng said she has been treated like a family member, accompanying her hosts on outings to restaurants, movies and even Disneyland.

Geng said she appreciates the hospitality that California has shown her thus far.

“You guys are so welcoming,” she said.

Cheng, the institute’s managing director, said the primary mission of the Confucius Classroom isn’t just about teaching the language. It’s also about exposing students to Chinese art, she said, and to Confucius’ belief that people all around the world are more alike than different.

“The similarities are so strong that the differences can be understood in the context of humanity,” she said. “Confucius believed very strongly in the unification of people.”